Hethob of making hosiery



Jam 14,1936. P. LIEBERKNECHT METHOD OF. MAKING HOSIERY Filed March 10, 1933 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 1936 P. LIEBERKNECHT METHOD OF MAKING HOSIERY Filed March 10, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 14, 1936 ZMWEJSJL METHOD OF MAKlING HUSIIIERY Paul Lieherknecht, Einsiedell-Chemnitz, Germany Application March N, 1933, Serial No. 660,240 lln Germany November 17, 1932 fllaims. (Ell. 66-l87) sole, and toe portions, being knitted and the leg and foot front being formed from the same thread. I

In order to make the heel angles extra strong in such stockings and to join the heel parts without a seam to the leg parts, according to the present invention the two he'el parts are made broader than the pieces of a separating course between the foot part and the leg part so that the heel angles are somewhat thicker than the adjoining stocking parts. To achieve this result, after the making of the leg part and before beginning the knitting of the sole parts, special auxiliary work pieces are set on the separating courses on the needles of the flat hosiery frame, so that the fabric subsequently can be easily transferred along the separating course on the comb of an auxiliary fiat hosiery frame and. the separating course then cut off. In this auxiliary machine the heel parts can then be knitted row by row onto the fabric and the said machine can be worked very rapidly.

The use of auxiliary fabric parts can be disp'ensed with if after the making of the foot part the end of the leg part adjacent the separating courses is placed in the said auxiliary machine and the foot parts, which are on the hook sides of the needles after transferring, are brought on to their rear sides, so that the heels can then be readily knitted onto the last row of stitches of the leg part, whereupon the fabric is transferred on a linking machine. Only then are the separating courses cut off.

The making of a stocking according to my new process will now be illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the middle portion of a stocking as it comes from the machine after the heel tabs have been applied.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a finished stocking.

Figs. 3,4 and 5 show diagrammatically different stages of the manufacture of a stocking.

Figs. 6 to 10 are diagrammatic views showing various stages of a modified method of manufacturing the stocking.

needles [1-6 and l't', the separating courses e and e will extend onlyover the needles l-- l and l'--i'. The separating courses can be knitted by means of a separate thread which is thinner and a different color than that constituting the 5 leg part. It may, however, be made of the same thread as the leg part or of the thread which is used for strengthening the high heel parts or the sole parts.

During the formation of the separating courses lit the first rows 1) of the foot front b are knitted between these courses, said rows consisting of the same thread as the leg part whereby the stitches are maintained as large as those of the leg part.

After knitting the separating courses e, e' and the intermediate courses of stitches b of the foot front, an auxiliary fabric piece d or d is transferred on the needles on which are formed the separating courses, that is on the needles l-- l and l'--t. It is not absolutely necessary that 2 0 these auxiliary pieces should be inserted downwardly on the needles. A supply of such pieces. can be maintained on said needles and at the required time the uppermost one may be drawn upwardly to the finished fabric.

The said auxiliary fabric pieces may be knitted on another machine or cut from a larger piece of fabric. It is also convenient to knit them alongside a leg part by means of separate thread guides while the last rows of stitches of the leg'part a are being made.

The auxiliary fabric pieces d and (1 may also be produced in the following manner:

The leg part after knitting up to the separating courses is brought under the knock-over comb. 5 Two auxiliary fabric pieces d and d are then knitted on the needles i-t and l'-- l'. When these pieces are finished the leg part is again brought over the knock-over comb so that the article is then located in the proper position for 40 further knitting.

After the auxiliary fabric pieces (1 and d" are transferred the foot parts on the stocking, that is the front and the half portions of the foot part on either side thereof and finally also the toe part, are knitted in known manner.

The stocking is then removed from the fiat hosiery frame, and at the places to which the heel parts g and. g are to be applied, that is along those stitch courses lying in front of the abovementioned separating courses, it is transferred on the oorrespondin g'needles of a rake by means of which the stocking is subsequently transferred to an auxiliary knitting frame. The heels are then knitted course by course on to the impaled stitches so that no seam is formed between the heels 9 and g and the end of the leg part a.

After the stocking is transferred on the needles of auxiliary knitting frame, that is before or after the formation of the heel, the above-mentioned separating courses are cut off. The heel parts are wider than the separating courses and consequently two or more stitch wales of each heel part begin not at an edge of the article but in the middle of a full piece of fabric,and consequently at the part of the stocking forming the heel angle h (Fig. 2) there is obtained a special kind of strengthening, namely by doubling the fabric forming the heel angle. Furthermore, this method achieves a very firm attachment between the heel parts g, g and the adjoining sole parts 0, 0, especially in the neighborhood of the heel angle h. This is explained from the fact that those stitch loops which are transferred on the needles of the linking machine for making the said connection cannot lie directly at the edge of the heel parts but must be somewhat away from the edge so that the particular stitch loops of the heel parts to be' transferred begin at the end of the separating course For this reason the new stocking has no fold in the leg part a at the heel angle h. This remains quite smooth so that the forces to be transmitted by the heel angle can be uniformly distributed over all adjoining stitches and the strength of the stocking thereby increases.

The auxiliary knitting frame, on which the heel parts are knitted, can be of simpler construction and with shorter fronts than the knitting frame for making the leg and foot parts. Also the first machine can work much faster than the second because separate rows of stitches which have to slide are only very short, being only as long as the width of a heel part. For this reason it is possible to run the auxiliary machine at from 150 to 200 revolutions per minute whereas the ordinary knitting frame can run at only to 70 revolutions per minute.

The use of the above-mentioned fabric pieces is not absolutely necessary. If it is desired to avoid them the method of operation is to be somewhat modified. In this case the leg part a is first knitted up to the course to which the heel parts are to be subsequently applied. Then, in the same manner as hereinbefore described, a separating course is knitted on both sides of the article which is shorter than the heel parts to be applied. The foot parts are then directly worked. When this is completed the article at the places where the heel parts are to be applied is brought on to the auxiliary machine without cutting off the separating courses. Then the foot'parts which extend upwardly from the needles of the auxiliary machine are so swung around that they hang downwardly in front of the leg part and thus are provided on the backs of the needles. This operation is shown in Figs. 6 to 10.

According to Fig. 6 the foot part b is located above the needle row 5, 6, 1, while the leg part a hangs downwardly over this row of needles. According to Fig. '7 the needles are drawn so far back that the-stitches in which the needles 5, 6,

I are entered are enclosed in the needle hooks. Fig. 8 shows how the foot part b is then folded forwardly. According to Fig. 9 it is already hanging downwards and according to Fig. 10 the needles are again pushed forward so that the article is in such a position on the needles that the heel parts can at once be knitted on. When this is completed the article is taken off from the auxiliary machine and placed on the linking machine. On the needles of the latter there are entered those stitches of the foot part b which extend at a short distance from the separating courses e and 8' parallel to the latter in the sole part c, c. The separating courses are then cut off and the side edges of the heel parts are impaled on the corresponding needles, whereupon the connection of the heel parts with the edges of the sole parts takes place in the customary manner. When this is finished, the stocking can be removed and completed in known manner.

I claim as my invention:

1. Themethod for the manufacture of stockings on a fiat hosiery frame which comprises knitting the leg part, knitting the separating courses in front of the edge parts of the leg, and then knitting the foot part consisting of front and sole parts and the toe and impaling this section, at the places where the heels are to be applied, on the needles of an auxiliary knitting machine, and producing stitch courses on the transferred section which are longer than the separating courses, whereupon the heel is made broader than the separating courses, and finally finishing the stocking.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the stitch courses of the heels are knitted between the separating courses and the leg part.

3. A method according to claim 1, in which auxiliary fabric pieces of the width of the separating courses are inserted on the needles of the fiat knitting frame which have knitted the separating courses and after knitting the latter.,

4. A method according to claim 1, in which the separating courses are cut off after impaling the section on the needles of the auxiliary knitting frame.

5. A method for the manufacture of stockings on a fiat hosiery frame which comprises knitting first the leg part and then the separating courses in front of the edges of the leg part and finally knitting the foot part consisting of front sole parts and the toe, impaling the articles at the places where the heels are to be applied on the needles of an auxiliary knitting frame, the transfered row of stitches being longer than the sep-' arating course, folding the foot part over on the backs of the needles of the auxiliary machine, knitting the heel parts course by course, removing the article from the auxiliary machine and impaling it along the separating courses with the beginning of the sole part on the needles of a linking machine, cutting off the separating courses, and impaling'the edges of the heels to be connected with the beginning of the sole part on the needles of the linking machine, and then finishing the stocking.

PAUL LIEBERKNECHT. 

